Barcelona World Race 2010/2011

On December 31st, at 13 hours, will start one of the main events of the sailing year, the Barcelona World Race. 15 boats, 2 crew per boat, going around the world, non stop, from Barcelona to Barcelona, 25000 miles or 46300 km. It will take them over 3 months, in those incredible IMOCA Open 60 yachts.

These boats are part of an ‘open’ class. That means that the designers enjoy a level of freedom when designing, as long as the boats fit within the measurements of 60 feet (18.29 meters) in length, 4.5 meters of draught and a mast that must be no higher than 28 meters above the water. The design must also comply with a series of safety requirements that can be divided into two main groups:

Stability regulations. These are a series of requirements and tests performed on each boat to guarantee stability and self-righting action if the boat were to capsize.

The IMOCA Open 60s are specially designed for solo and double-handed ocean sailing. The shape of the hull and the rigging features respond to the average wind direction and swell experienced in a west-east circumnavigation of the globe. Favoring fair winds, the IMOCA Open 60s have smooth, straight hulls to plane across waves, and can reach speeds of up to 25 knots.